Abstract
NATIVE collagen fibres are held in an extended, crystalline position by hydrogen bonds between the adjacent chains of a polypeptide helix with three strands1. These hydrogen bonds rupture when collagen is heated in water and the structure collapses into a randomly coiled form. The length of a collagen fibre after complete contraction is only about a quarter of its initial extended length. This hydrothermal contraction of collagen occurs because of an internal molecular re-arrangement. This has been useful in studying collagen structure, and has also been studied to examine the effects of ageing on collagen. A tendon fibre from a rat 2 years old will contract on heating and lift a weight of 5 g, but a tendon fibre from a rat 4 months old fails to contract at all under such a load. The temperature at which shrinkage begins, Ts, has occasionally been reported to increase with age, but the finding is not consistent.
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LAWSON, N., GILES, W. & PIERCE, J. Hydrothermal Shrinkage and the Ageing of Collagen. Nature 212, 720–722 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/212720a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/212720a0
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